Video Rewind 06.21.2013

Wordsmith “Living Life Check to Check”

Wordsmith’s new album The Blue Collar Recital is due out this September. His song “Living Life Check to Check” is off that album. In the video, we get Wordsmith just trying to get by. He’ll take any job to make a few bucks because he has to accept nonpaid gigs just to get a chance to perform. He has a son, so that makes life even harder. You have to feed your family, but you can’t stop pursuing your dreams. Wordsmith finds himself in an in-between. Unlike what you hear on the radio, he is a rapper who represents the little people. The middle class who struggle to get by can give birth to people who become rich. Once rich, those people can forget their past. I’m not saying Kanye West doesn’t remember his roots, but he is definitely not the same person he used to be. Perhaps gaining riches doesn’t cost you a soul, but it may just cost you who you are.

Niagara “Superbe”

Niagara have a debut album called Otto that can be streamed. Their single “Superbe” off the album features a video that is extremely serious. It shows the story of a woman who returns home after 15 years. Her father was very loving, and her only parent. He had a collection of firearms. As a young girl she like to play with a cap gun and pretend to shoot her dead. He always played along. Though he kept his guns locked in a case, he wasn’t so smart about hiding the key. One evening the girl finds a key and unlocks the case pulling out a pistol. She goes into her father’s room and has him stick his hands up. When he realizes that she has a real gun it is too late. She pulls the trigger, and we find out that the father keeps his guns fully loaded. She accidentally kills her father. Now, fifteen years later she makes an unusual move. She takes the guns and puts them in a carrying case. She drags the case out to a river and tosses it in. It’s difficult to process how one gets by after accidentally killing a loved one.

Daughter “Youth”

Daughter’s first album If You Leave will be out next week. They have premiered their video for “Youth” from the album. It features the three band members playing filmed in black and white. It’s a good metaphor for youth. When you’re young you can live life in extremes. Everything is amazing or terrible. You seldom find an in between. The band members are also separated by quite some distance, each on his or her own platform with a spotlight shining down. Even with close friends, it can be tough to always fit in and belong. Sometimes you find yourself outside of the group. That can feel strange and unusual particularly when you are used to the group being together as one. A band does sound better when all members play together.

Sharks “Sunday’s Hand”

Sharks have an album out called Selfhood. They recently released “Sunday’s Hand” off the album. The video tells of a tragic heartbreak. We watch a handheld recording of a young couple as they get ready for a short trip. They tape themselves in their convertible having fun and laughing. They even pick up a hitchhiker who joins in on the fun. After dropping him off, they stop for gas. As the guy goes inside to pay, the gal starts going through his phone where she finds pictures of him kissing another girl. She blows up on him and takes off. He chases after her trying to win her back. She turns around and puts a high heel through his forehead. She walks off with a blank expression on her face. Women can be brutal, men, so don’t go cheating on them.

Foals “Bad Habit”

Foals new album Holy Fire is out now. Their new single “Bad Habit” has quite the video. We follow Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis gets up as he has fallen in a desert. He’s chasing after a naked woman. Isn’t that how it always is? You want a woman. Just her. Not her fancy clothes. Not her makeup. Just her for who she is. You don’t deserve her, in this case because you have a bad habit. But you still will chase after her, only it’s like a dream and you just can’t catch her. It’s hot, and the sand is difficult to run through. Every time you just about get to her, another obstacle arises. The ground falls out in front of you. Sand gusts block your view. Finally, you muster up the strength to storm after her, and where she is there is shade and rest. Like a mirage, she isn’t really there. She withers away and you have to accept your fate that she is gone forever.